I've always been doing lots of architectural environments and I got some skill in that. However lately I'm not satisfied with the way I depict certain things, especially edges and textures.

I thought that maybe studying old masters that were good at depicting architecture in a more painterly way would be solution. The biggest collection of images I found was Sargent's watercolors on ARC website but maybe there is something better I'm not aware of.

Would you reccomend any other old masters that would be really worth studying or seeing? They don't need to be very popular names.

Erik Tiemen's has some nice old master linked to the right in his blog.
I especially liked Fortuny y Cabo's drawings and paintings. Without a doubt because they remind me alot in style (not skill)of my own work,very inspiring. Everybody has some great old master out their with whom they share similar sensebility and way of drawing. Could we be related? Heck I have ancestors from the south of france not to long ago

Damn this forum is dead, casual threads like this one used to be beautifully hijacked, there was life back then. My question is which forums besides conceptart.org is still going strong?? A speedpainting thread ain't enough.

Damn this forum is dead, casual threads like this one used to be beautifully hijacked, there was life back then. My question is which forums besides conceptart.org is still going strong?? A speedpainting thread ain't enough.

There are a couple forums I frequent that are not essentially digitally based, though digital is not verboten. Their main thrust is using "traditional" media to create artwork.

Back in ye olde days, around 2000, 2001 or so there were tons of people posting. The best part was the range of quality. Lots of very talented professionals and down all the way to the regular trolls.

It all made the forum a great place to come and read and learn, and still participate since even mid-to-low level peple could help out with advice to the young amateurs. Threads like this one would have bloomed back then.
Eventually, if i recall correctly, that was it's downfall too.

Sijun became famous for the great quality and the amount of pro's actually taking the time to help newbies (spooge demon etc.) - and that, of course, attracted every "n00b", good AND bad on this earth. The place got so flooded with amateurs, many of which with no real interest in learning that the place became another "elfwood".
Eventually, the pro's got fed up and left, one by one or sometimes whole groups left to start a new forum. (Eatpoo is a good example of this)

With no pros around, the place quickly turned from bad to dead.

Someone who actually stuck around through it all can perhaps fill in when it started to turn around and become the nice but perhaps abit quiet place that it is today?_________________The horror...

Thanks for the explanation. I get the feeling there are still a few pros at least around here? Well, whatever, just as long as there's no danger of another Elfwood episode happening, or something. Man, that website...

Hehe. Thanks for reply. I see a little off-topic started here but I don't mind beacause I'm happy with what I found anyway .

As for the Sijun. Maybe there are no old pros but at the same time there are new people with amazing skills. Small traffic gives more intimate atmosphere than on other forums which I like here._________________Carbonmade portfolio / Blog

I think an art contest could spice up the place, if that's what you want?

If all of you in here contributed with 10 dollars the end sum could be pretty good, perhaps enough for a second price aswell?
That way more would be interested and some cool art would be displayed at the same time, 100 dollar for the first place, and maybe 20 for second.

I'd love another art contest, if enough people are able to invest time in it. And udal, I think a contest here is mostly something to help people push themselves further with their art, rather than the winner gets all the glory and the rest can suck it. I definitely don't consider myself ready, if ready means that I'm perfectly happy with the work that I do.[/i]

im all for a contest, but im not sure monetary prices are strictly necessary.

i remember from the old sijun, where someone posted one of his (amazing) lineart drawings, and everyone painted it to their best effort.

that was a great thread/activity. i especially liked the feeling i got after working several hours on my piece until i honestly thought it was great, and then going back online to see what other people had come up with just to be completely blown away by some of them - i don't think i've ever truly understood how much i have left to learn as i did that time.

my opinion of my own work went from great to el'stinko in seconds - and i mean that i a good way!

hey, here's a crazy idea - we should do that again! anyone feel confident enough to volunteer a lineart?

edit: i got a lineart if noone else have one / feel like sharing one, but it's not really that good. id prefer it if the lineart was from someone more experienced. but if alot of you want to do this and noone have a lineart available, ill post it up in a new thread._________________The horror...

i think in sijun when i first joined, people were bringing all their crazy ideas to the table, but then when it got flooded (with noobs like me) people got into this clusterfuck of trying to impress each other without the learning, simply trying to garner praise-i think it will rise anew like a pheonix from the ashes though. we are supposed to be creative but we lost our posting creativity lol-seems there were alot more neat activities and side threads back in the day-propeller thread, the lineart thing ash mentioned, car threads-more focused themes than just speedpainting- kinda recently sampson made a weekly them thread, what happened to that? It needs to be a bit less about showcasing, more about learning activities.

and whle on the topic of old master architecture lol, wasnt there a movement in europe that combined all sorts of the styles-back to egyptian even? i read it on gurney's blog, aparently it got canned in the west due to the glory of the frontier.

I think besides some of the artists leaving and starting their own forums (eatpoo, and that other one by invite only--forgot the name), Spooge leaving was also a factor I think. Everyone looked up to him--amateurs and pros alike, and I have no doubt that he was one of the big reasons that many visited. I believe that if Spooge started posting again, people will come flooding back.

What I find interesting is that many people don't find what they're looking for in conceptart.org. On the surface, it's got all the big name pros and very passionate and serious pros and amateurs alike, with lots of critique, exchange of ideas. learning...etc. But for one reason or another, conceptart.org rubs some people the wrong way and they go on wishing for the older Sijun or something similar.

Conceptart.org has always been immensely helpful. I admit however that lately this place seems slightly less attractive for me. It's propably beacause I get this constant feeling of rat race when I go there. There's some pressure even though I try to ignore it (and not very competitive person). Here's it feels a bit like in CA.org Lounge but with cool art instead of funny videos ._________________Carbonmade portfolio / Blog

Yeah Luna that must be it. Wonder if Spooge got tired of all the commotion when the forum got flooded, if it scared away our golden cow. Perhaps it was only cause his own priorities at the time changed.